The Korean War

For hundreds of years Korea was dominated by the Chinese empire. After Japan was defeated by the allies in WW II., Korea became occupied by the Russians in the North and the Americans in the South. Both the U.S. and the Soviets realized that Korea was a strategic country. It was important to occupy because it lay between China, Japan, and the Soviet Union. North and South Korea were divided by the 38th parallel, it split the country into two regions. Russia and America became politically involved in Korea, each set up strong governments. The United States wanted Korea to be held under democratic rule, while the Soviets wanted communist rule. They took these conflicting views to the United Nations (UN), which had just been set up to prevent another world war and help with international elections. The UN decided that both sides of Korea should have their own elections. The elections were held on January 12, 1948. North Korea favoured communism, the people elected the Russians and Kim Il Sung, a former guerrilla leader. South Korea favoured democracy and formed the Republic of Korea under U.S. educated, Dr. Sygman Rhee. The Soviets left a communist dictatorship with a well-trained, well armed, North Korean-Soviet army. In fear of the North Koreans newly developed strength, the U.S. left South Korea with some small arms and military advisors.

The Korean War dates from June 1950 to July 1953. The war started on June 25 1950, when a Northern Korean(-Soviet) army invaded South Korea. The attack happened without the instructions and without the knowledge of Communist Russia or the Republic of China. The struggle started as a civil war, because Kim Il Sung choose the date for the attack. The date for the attack was badly taken, because the Soviet Union was boycotting the security Council of the UN at that time (due to the fact, that a communist representative from China was not allowed to enter the council). The Soviet Union would have been able...

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The Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition existing after World War II between the Communist World – primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies – and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States and its allies.
The KoreanWar was a military conflict between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China (PRC), with military material aid from the Soviet Union.
A proxy war is a war that results when opposing powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly.
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...﻿
The KoreanWar was a civil war between the nations of North Korea and South Korea, which was a result of the occupation zones of the Soviet Union and the United States that were established at the end of World War II. Often called the “forgotten war” because of the lack of attention Americans had given it, the KoreanWar demonstrated how the direction of United States foreign policy was affected during the Cold War. The failure to hold free elections after World War II throughout the Korean Peninsula deepened the division between the two sides; the North established a communist government, while the South established a capitalist one. The 38th parallel increasingly became a contested border between the two Korean states. Although reunification negotiations continued in the months preceding the war, tension intensified. The situation escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. Pushed by the US, the United Nations voted to act and member states sent troops to resist the offensive. China became involved on the North Korean side, and pushed the conflict towards a new direction. The KoreanWar marked the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War. The conflict persisted over three...